The undertrials were lodged in jails and were granted parole to attend marriage ceremony, last rites of family members or for medical treatment.

The missing undertrials were lodged in the jails in 17 districts and SPs of all the districts have been alerted.(For representational purpose)

The state police has launched a manhunt for 19 undertrials who have gone missing after expiry of parole.

The undertrials were lodged in jails and were granted parole to attend marriage ceremony, last rites of family members or for medical treatment. They, however, did not return to jails after expiry of the parole period, said IG (Law and Order) Hari Ram Sharma.

The missing undertrials were lodged in the jails in 17 districts and SPs of all the districts had been alerted. These undertrials were yet to complete their sentence and will be put behind bars, Sharma said.

A police officer said some of the undertrials had committed serious criminal offence like murder, dacoity, kidnapping and loot and they might join some criminal gangs.

Sharma said UP Special Task Force had been entrusted with the task to nab Mehboob and Parshuram, who are resident of Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh respectively.

The SP government had amended the parole procedure to provide relief to the undertrials. It was decided that instead of DMs and SPs, jail superintendents will give approval to 40 days parole to the undertrials. The jail superintendents had been empowered to increase the parole period as well.

A home department officer said the state government was not contemplating to amend the amended parole procedure.